Winter Institute and The Last Coffee Shop Disguised as One Lovely Blog Tag

Look at my post title.

This is why no one has hired me to name things. :P

Well, I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Denver (for work), and I am:
A. Thoroughly exhausted, and B. Behind on non-bookselling life. Prepare yourself for sleepiness and gifs . . .

Basically me at work when I got back

Nevertheless, I really wanted to share a few things on the blog and do some updates. In this regard, Sarah from Ink and Paper Tall Ship then inadvertently came to my rescue. She tagged me for the "One Lovely Blog" tag a month and a half ago. Thanks Sarah!

The rules:

1. List 7 facts about yourself

2. Tag 15 other blogs to do the same

She was always a little shouty, imo, but this was funny.

As usual, I am flouting the rules by writing 7 facts about my trip, and tagging no one. Not, understand, because I don't know 15 lovely blogs! I know LOTS of lovely blogs, and I am just choosing not to tag you all :) I will be like a ninja with tags, only tagging when least suspected.

In case you didn't read this post (linked), I was at the American Booksellers Association Winter Institute for the last 4-ish days. It was in Denver, Colorado, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous! I spent any spare minutes (and there weren't many of them!) walking the streets of downtown and taking it all in. If you follow me on Instagram, you saw pictures of exciting things like candy and lights.* I might incorporate some of those pictures into this post :)

Fact #1: The ABA gets some great keynote speakers.

Though this is my first Winter Institute, I've heard nothing but good things about the many speakers the ABA has had come in to inspire booksellers, authors, and publishers. This year's keynotes were Martin Lindstrom, Amy Cuddy, and Newbery medal winner Kwame Alexander. I was only vaguely familiar with them (i.e., I knew their names and what they did), but they were all absolutely fabulous!

Martin Lindstrom gave us fascinating insights into how "small data" can show and predict trends, and teach you a lot about marketing, business, and people.

Amy Cuddy (TED talks) worked with us on presence, confidence, and personal power. She was sweet and fun, and her presentation was great for introverts! (Fake it until you become it)

Kwame Alexander was hilarious and charming. He told us stories about his childhood, inspired us with his determination and drive, and was generally fantastic. I hadn't read his books before now, but they just jumped onto my list ;)

"Stories bypass reason and go directly to our unconscious" - Martin Lindstrom's talk

 

Fact #2: Denver has some fabulous Asian Fusion cuisine

Aside from books, Japanese and Korean food are something I always seek out in a new place. I found several gems in Denver. I had kimchi stew (kimchi jjigae) for the first time (it's incredible), and some lovely sushi as well. And naturally, I bought a bunch of imported sugar . . .

This is a serious priority

Miso and Sake at Aoba Sushi in Downtown Denver

Sushi!

And I found a quiet ramen shop. I worked on my book and was sad to leave :(

Fact #3: Downtown Denver is a lovely place for walking enthusiasts

Like most cities, there are a lot of interesting things to see within a 3 mile radius. Though Winter Institute had a packed schedule (and fifteen minute breaks, tops), I managed to sneak out a few times for some fresh air. After the sessions ended each evening, I had a little more time to walk around.

I went rogue on Sunday for a couple hours - to go to church. The church I attended met in this awesome synagogue!

 Fact #4: I finally got to meet some of the authors for the reading program I did - Indies Introduce.

Not everyone was able to make it, but the whole session on the Indies Introduce program was still really neat. Each author read a two minute selection, and then answered a question from one of the II booksellers. I was too shy to get on stage and ask a question, but I did get to visit with some of the authors, including Martin Seay, author of the upcoming debut The Mirror Thief. My blurb was the one chosen for the Indies Introduce promo spreadsheet, and we follow each other on Twitter, so this was a lot of fun for me.

 The picture on the right is a few of the covers for authors who couldn't make it to Winter Institute.

Fact #5: Booksellers like to party. And their parties are a lot of fun! 

The ceiling at the opera house.

There was a party basically every night. And by party, I mean organized events with booksellers, authors, reps, books, snacks, and drinks. The Scholastic party was at a gorgeous opera house. They had a french fry bar. It was as amazing as it sounds. I had a fabulous Cabernet, but I forgot to write down the name of it! Other party highlights included the author receptions (I met authors like Ruta Sepetys, and re-met Alexandra Bracken - who is one of the most personable, sweet authors I have ever met).

Okay, maybe this is not an accurate representation (it's not). But this reminds me of my sister and I pretending we are having a party. It usually involves dancing in the car. Badly.

And did I mention that there were books? More about that next.

Fact #6: BOOKS . . . BOOKS . . . EVERYWHERE!

This is the book I took home from the swap.

If you've ever been to BEA (Book Expo America), then you know what I'm talking about. There are a few magical times when people are just handing you books, and letting you keep them. And it's overwhelming. And you have to choose. I came home with books from all the keynotes, signed ARCs, and more ARCs that looked interesting. I actually preferred Winter Institute to BEA - it's centered on my line of work, and a lot less crazy (there are a ton of people at BEA). But I will go anywhere where they hand me books.

All of the publisher partners are incredibly generous - from the parties, to the books, to the time and knowledge that they put into their sessions. I learned so much about business, bookselling, publishing, the industry, and the importance of local independent bookstores.

Speaking of bookstores, I visited both locations of the iconic indie Tattered Cover Bookstore - and it was even better than the hype!

One of my favorite parts was the Backlist Book Swap - basically, you brought a book (5 years old or older) that you thought was under read, and swapped it for another person's pick. It's a brilliant idea, and could be easily adapted to many occasions. If you were wondering, the book I brought for the swap was Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis. It's a retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth, and explores sacred and profane love. It's brilliant, beautifully written, and I've hardly met anyone else who loves it!

“The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing — to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from — my country, the place where I ought to have been born. Do you think it all meant nothing, all the longing? The longing for home? For indeed it now feels not like going, but like going back.”
― C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces

Fact#7: While I Can't Sleep on a Plane - I Can Finish a Book Draft!

Writing a first draft is the easy part - usually. But what started out as a silly short story became a behemoth that took me thirteen months to draft. It's a lot longer than a short story. A lot.

Anyhow, I was exhausted on the flight home, and I tried to sleep. It wasn't working, so I plugged in my headphones and pulled out my computer. Two hours later, we were landing in Grand Rapids, and I'd just typed the last few words of The Last Coffee Shop. Well, the initial draft. Revisions and polishing are ahead, but now I have something to polish! And I won't feel so bad about starting one of the handful of projects buzzing around in my head. 

The last page of The Last Coffee Shop

 It's hard to express the feeling that finishing a book (even if it's just a bad first draft) gives you. It's heady, satisfying, and I usually want to break out dancing. Needless to say, since I was on a plane, I refrained from the latter.

There was so much more about my trip (especially what I learned), but I'd have to write about twenty posts! The information alone was worth it, and it was a lot of fun too. I met a lot of booksellers, and I hope I'll run into more of them at future events. Denver was a cool place, and I'd love to go back some time.

The sunrise as seen from my hotel room.

So there you go. Feel free to pick up the tag and link back :) Have you ever been to Denver? Are you planning on any trips in the next few months?

Top 10 Tuesday via Broke and Bookish: Favorite Authors (with gifs)

And it's Tuesday-which means Top 10 Tuesday with the lovely people over at The Broke and the Bookish. Every week, they pick a theme for a top 10 list, and participating bloggers link back. You can find out more here.

This week's top 10-Top 10 Favorite Authors, was excruciating . . .

I know, Emma, I know.

Rather than agonize, grit my teeth, and lament, I decided to list 5 of my favorite "contemporary"* authors and 5 favorite "classic" authors, with two requirements:

1. I have to have read at least 2 books by them
2. I have to have reread at least 1 of their books/plays/whatever

Otherwise, this post might have taken me a couple years of re-reading and soul-searching.

But it all seriousness, this is really hard. So no more stalling, here it is:

 

1. Classic: J. R. R. Tolkien
2. Contemporary: Robin McKinley

I put them together because they are two of my earliest reading/writing influences. My dad read The Hobbit to us when we could hardly read ourselves (Thank you Dad!). Though some of the subtleties in Tolkien’s writing certainly escaped me as a kid, the beauty never did. I 100% blame him for my obsession with elves, my fascination with forests, and my dissatisfaction with so much of modernity.

Likewise, when I first read The Hero and the Crown, I was hooked. McKinley’s lovely use of language, her dreamy worlds, and her truly awesome heroines are still my favorite. As a teenager, I felt like her characters “got” me.

3. Classic: William Shakespeare
4. Contemporary: Neil Gaiman

Ah, Shakespeare; love him or hate him, or doubt he wrote his plays: I don’t care. He is hailed as the greatest writer in the English language for a reason. From made up words, to memorable characters, to owning tropes, Shakespeare was/is one of my biggest influences and rereads. “Good Lord, for alliance! Thus goes every one to the world but I, and I am sunburnt; I may sit in a corner and cry heigh-ho for a husband!” **

Neil Gaiman is properly paired with the Bard, because he is also a brilliant wordsmith and Master of Stories. I can’t exactly remember which book of his I read first, or when I first picked it up, because his characters and worlds have been a part of my reading life for so long. His ability to render character, atmosphere, and worlds with deft, spare prose, has this Dickensian girl gritting her teeth with writer-envy.

5. Classic: Jane Austen
6. Contemporary: Megan Whalen Turner

What can I say about Jane that hasn’t been said? If you don’t think Pride and Prejudice is funny, then read it again. I was a classic tomboy, but Jane had me on pins and needles as I wondered if Darcy and Elizabeth would ever do things right, or if Wentworth would realize he was misjudging Anne, or if Catherine Moreland’s gothic novel fantasies would ruin her shot with Henry. Not only was Jane brilliant and witty, but she made you care about her characters and their relationships. My anti-romance sentiments were forgotten every time I picked up one of her novels.

 

Austen tip #1: When flummoxed in front of someone you like, ask after their parents.

Megan Whalen Turner, if you don’t know, wrote The Queen’s Thief series. Eugenides, thief extraordinaire, and Irene, the strong and grim queen of Attolia, are two of my favorite characters (and couples) in all literature. The push/pull of their relationship, the scheming and court intrigue, the daring thefts, and the real consequences in these books made them impossible to put down. If I dare to skim for a favorite passage, I am always sucked into reading the whole book again. Now that, Ms. Turner, is a gift.

7. Classic: C. S. Lewis
8. Contemporary: Diana Wynne Jones

I actually prefer Lewis’s nonfiction (philosophy and theology) to his fiction. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Chronicles, and they are an integral part of my reading identity. But if I am naming off my favorites, The Four Loves and Till We Have Faces immediately spring to mind. The latter is fiction, being a retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth, but the former is a slim volume packed with wit and insight on every kind of love. They actually go together quite well. Lewis’ wit, command of both history and mythology, and his affable professor writing voice, are at their best when he is writing about tough subjects like love and pain. In Till We Have Faces, he proved that he could write “serious” fantasy, and with a strong heroine, no less.

Diana Wynne Jones’ books are funny, smart, exciting, and so very English. Howl’s Moving Castle is one of my all-time favorites, and I pick it up whenever I need a good laugh. Sophie is another character I’ve always identified with. Her cleaning mania is pretty unique in YA fiction, I think. Another hilarious (but slightly darker) Jones novel, Dark Lord of Derkholm, is one of the better fantasy parodies out there. And she didn’t just write funny books, as the truly creepy Fire and Hemlock proved.

9. Classic: The Brontés
10. Current: Garth Nix

I am cheating and putting the Bronté sisters together. Not because they are all alike, but because I read their novels around the same time. Wuthering Heights made me furious at half the characters, but the novel is a masterpiece, nonetheless. Jane Eyre, likewise, deserves its place in the pantheon of English literature. Mr. Rochester frustrated me too, but Jane’s spirit and strength of character makes her one of my favorite heroines. And of course, the oft-forgotten Anne Bronté wrote too! The Tenant of Wildfell Hall does not get as much credit as it deserves.

Garth Nix’s Abhorsen series is one of my all-time favorites. Sabriel is one of the coolest heroes ever, and the idea of anti-necromancers was brilliant. I love everything about Sabriel, from Sabriel’s no-nonsense attitude, to the use of bells to command the dead, to the world, to funny, bitter Touchstone and aggravating Mogget. Like every author on this list, Nix has a way with language that pulls you write into his worlds. From the first scene, where Sabriel brings back a pet rabbit from death, I can never put this one down once I start reading.

This is where it got hard: Terry Pratchett, Elizabeth Marie Pope, Edgar Allen Poe, Patricia C. Wrede, Ray Bradbury, Agatha Christie, Erik Larson, Matthew Pearl, The Brothers Grimm, Louisa May Alcott, Charles Dickens, D. M. Cornish, Jonathan Maberry, Patricia McKillip and more kept intruding. I could do this list indefinitely . . .

Footnotes: 

*I am defining Contemporary as "actively writing from 1980's and on :)"

** Beatrice, we have all been single at a wedding (I think), made some witty, sarcastic aside, and been taken seriously. Beatrice is my spirit animal.

So, did I pick any of your favorites? Tell me in the comments :)

Post-Reading-Tolkien Syndrome

(Note: This silly post was originally published on this wonderful blog http://www.shealynns-faerie-shoppe.blogspot.com/  in September of 2012. I thought it was worth a re-post.)

A Few Suggestions for the Effective Treatment of Post-Reading-Tolkien Syndrome

    Do you ever look outside, and wish that there were elves passing through your backyard?
    Do you watch the latest fantasy film and decide it’s just not good enough?
    Do you see mossy knolls and think, “Wouldn’t that make the cutest little Hobbit hole?”

       If you answered yes to any one of these questions, you might have Post-Reading-Tolkien Syndrome (or PRTS for short). PRTS is an uncomfortable condition, and cannot be treated by the medical community. As a sufferer of PRTS myself, I've compiled a list of helpful suggestions and activities to soothe the discomforts brought on by PRTS, and bring you back to reality with a gentle push, not a shove.

1. First, to get yourself in the right frame of mind, you should brew a cup of tea, and bake/purchase some Lembas or Seed Cakes. If, like me, you haven’t found a working recipe for Lembas yet, you can substitute shortbread-it looks right.
2. Listen to some music while you bake. Here are a few suggestions:

• Enya: A Day Without Rain
• The Lord of the Rings Soundtracks (if this is too painful, skip this row)
• The Chronicles of Narnia Soundtracks
• Escala
• Loreena McKinnett
• Clannad

If you can’t find any of these albums or artists, just put on a Howard Shore or Celtic Internet radio station.

     Now that you have taken care of the music and the victuals (wise preparations for any adventure), you have to find another book to read. This can be a very difficult, and sometimes painful process, and you will need the music and food to fortify you. Reading any masterwork can make other books seem sub-par (or reveal the truth, if you will). So you have to let yourself down slowly. Here are some suggestions to make it easier on yourself:

If you just read The Hobbit, and are looking for light adventure fare with deep themes, read The Chronicles of Narnia or The Princess and the Goblin, or Susan Fletcher’s Dragon Chronicles. You also might try Christopher Paolini’s Eragon. If you are a young Tolkien fan and wish there were more books with fantastical places and creatures, try the Fablehaven series or Beyonders: A World Without Heroes, both by Brandon Mull, or the Redwall series.

   If you read The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and need another series with a returning king and unlikely heroes, read Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain or The Monster Blood Tattoo Trilogy by D. M. Cornish (not nearly as silly as it sounds-with a very Tolkien feel!).
   If you’re feeling more epic size and fantasy to boot, also read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke-which is an amazing book on its own. If you’re on the younger end, or more interested in humans, try the Ranger’s Apprentice Series by John Flanagan.

   If you read the Silmarillion, The Lost Tales, or Unfinished Tales, and need more dreamy locales, bittersweet endings, epic romances, legendary heroes, and/or magic, try The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, by Patricia A. McKillip, The Hero and the Crown or Chalice, Robin McKinley, the Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix, Til We Have Faces, by C. S. Lewis, Le Morte D’Arthur, or The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope.

   If you read The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun, try Beowulf, retro (pre 90’s) Thor comics (I’m serious),  Rosemary Sutcliff’s Historical Fiction, Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea Series, The Song of Roland, Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series, Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind, Stephen R. Lawhead’s The Dragon King Trilogy, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (translated by Tolkien!) or good old collections of Norse Mythology.

   If you read Smith of Wootton Major or Farmer Giles of Ham, try Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Patricia Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles, T. H. White’s The Sword in the Stone,  or Cornelia Funke’s Inheart.

   If you read Roverandom, try Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga, Neil Gaiman’s Odd and the Frost Giants, or N. D. Wilson’s 100 Cupboards Trilogy.

   If you read any or all of the above, or if you need to laugh, hard, I would also recommend The Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones and Gerald Morris’s The Squire’s Tales (Arthurian mischief and humor).

And finally, if reading a book is too hard right now, here are five more activities to ease your Post-Reading-Tolkien Syndrome:

1. Walk through a forest at twilight
2. Watch a movie like Thor, a miniseries like the 10^th Kingdom, or a TV show like Once Upon a Time.
3. Look at Alan Lee’s and J. W. Waterhouse’s art books, or visual guides to England, Ireland, Scotland, or Wales.
4. Write a story about Elves, Dwarves, or anything else you wish was (or wasn't) real.
5. Phone a similarly suffering friend and commiserate, then do any of the above activities together.

From one sufferer of PRTS to another, I hope these suggestions help you on your road to recovery.

R. L. Hendrian
Pioneer in the study of PRTS and its effects.